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May 4, 2006 –* Searching for an easy to use digital camera that will survive a few bumps and scratches? No, it’s not the Olympus Stylus 720SW. This is the Fisher-Price Kid-Tough digital camera with its chunky hand grips on both sides and dual optical viewfinders reminiscent of the new Kodak innovations. The "durable drop-resistant" digital camera was announced yesterday by Fisher-Price, Inc., a subsidiary of toy giant Mattel, Inc.
The Fisher-Price Kid-Tough digital camera is designed for children 3 years of age or older. It has large buttons and easy icons that even children can understand, according to the toy maker. The camera doesn’t pack in lots of resolution; it can only snap shots with 640 x 480 pixels. With this size, about 60 pictures can be saved on the 8 MB of internal memory. If that’s not enough, an SD card slot is available.
The Kid-Tough digital camera has a rubber shell and a 1.3-inch LCD screen that children will frequently check out to see if they’ve captured their perfect shot. There is a built-in flash module that works automatically and a USB jack that connects to a computer via the included cable. Also in the box is a CD-ROM with simple digital camera software on it. The package will retail for $69.99 in June.
Fisher-Price, Inc. prides itself in its "preschool electronics" sector, as it introduced the first electronic toy phonograph in the seventies and its first camera toy in 1984.
"Fisher-Price has a long history of tapping the power of modern technologies for young children, going back to record players and tape recorders," said Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children’s Technology Review, in yesterday’s release. "In keeping with today’s tech trends, it will be fun to see if they can extend this long tradition of ease of use and durability to today’s digital cameras."